Japanese

Inviting leading poets, novelists, and other guests who have contributed to the literary magazine Mita Bungaku, participants will learn how to create literary works in a workshop format. Poet Hiroyuki Kasai, novelist Anna Ogino, and critic writer Maiko Kodaira will be featured guest speakers. This course welcomes future writers as well as those interested in literary creation. The class is considering applying for newcomer awards and submitting to literary magazines. The order of the workshops may differ from the schedule listed, depending on the interval between creative submissions and instructor discretion.

This course is for students with at least one year of prior study of Japanese. The goal of this course is for students to acquire well-balanced basic proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, and to develop an understanding and command of basic grammar and its usage. Students practice listening comprehension and pronunciation using videotapes and CDs. They learn conversational expressions and phrases necessary in daily life, fundamentals of written expression, and how to read and write short passages on topics familiar to them using previously learned sentence patterns and vocabulary. By the end of term, students master 1500 basic words and 300 basic kanji. 

This course is designed for students who passed the Beginner High level of the Japanese language exam or equivalent. Students will increase vocabulary knowledge through reading Japanese texts, integrating new ideas with existing ones and communicating their own opinion in Japanese. Students will be expected to describe and summarize what they can comprehend from Japanese texts.

This course instructs on skills and styles needed to write on various themes. Upon completion of the course, students will be :

1. Able to write sentences while paying attention to style, expressions, and vocabulary;

2. Able to use conjunctions well, and,

3. Able to write persuasive sentences.

<Level VII>

Target Students: Those who have completed and mastered intermediate-level studies.

Course Goals: To master the 200 important intermediate sentence patterns and develop understanding and command of the 100 important advanced sentence patterns for further improvement of the four skills of reading, listening, speaking, and writing. To master the 10,000 basic words and 2,000 basic Chinese characters.

<General 1-5>

Goal: To develop a balanced, advanced level of proficiency in reading, listening, speaking, and writing.

Contents: Mastery of intermediate sentence patterns and introduction of 100 important advanced sentence patterns, using Doshisha University’s original textbook and support materials. For students to be able to use all the expressions in an appropriate manner, exercises will be of typical situations where each expression is used, without categorizing them into grammar or vocabulary issues. Vocabulary building with an emphasis on collocation. Improving the four skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing through summarizing, reading, and listening comprehension of the materials; role-play using expressions learned in class, and composition exercises.

This course is designed for students who have learned basic kanji compounds to expand their vocabulary by examining the meaning of Kanji components (radical), and on and kun pronunciation. In the course, students practice to understand the meaning of kanji used in sentences based on the context and learn more kanji compounds. 

<Level IV>
Target Students: Those who have completed and mastered elementary level studies.
Course Goals: To develop understanding and command of the 100 important intermediate sentence patterns for further improvement of the four skills of reading, listening, speaking, and writing. To master the 4,000 basic words and 800 basic Chinese characters.

<Oral Expression A>
Goal: To understand daily conversation and be able to express one’s own opinions properly.
Contents: Exercises on pronunciation, rhythm, accent and intonation. Understanding oral expressions used in daily conversation. Learning expressions used for explaining and giving opinions and making a short speech.

This course provides an overview of Japanese fermented foods, Sendai miso, as well as the overseas expansion of Sendai miso. The first part of the course introduces fermented Japanese and international cuisines and seasonings. The latter part of the course provides guest speaker lectures on Sendai miso, along with factory tours where it is cultivated. Students will be encouraged to make suggestions on how to develop recipes and market Sendai miso to promote it to their countries and regions.

Taught in Japanese, this course is open to domestic and international students. By interacting with students from various backgrounds, students will acquire communication and collaboration skills. 

This basic Japanese course is designed to improve speaking skills. A different theme concerning Japanese culture and society is chosen for each course and students are split into groups to engage in activities, discussion, and group work concerning the selected topic. The overall goal of the class is for students to widen their perspectives and deepen their knowledge regarding various issues related to Japan and Japanese society. The program offers various theme courses and students may take multiple sections. 

<Level VII>
Target Students: Those who have completed and mastered intermediate level studies.
Course Goals: To master the 200 important intermediate sentence patterns and develop understanding and command of the 100 important advanced sentence patterns for further improvement of the four skills of reading, listening, speaking, and writing. To master the 10,000 basic words and 2,000 basic Chinese characters.

<General 1-5>
Goal: To develop a balanced, advanced level of proficiency in reading, listening, speaking, and writing.
Contents: Mastery of intermediate sentence patterns and introduction of 100 important advanced sentence patterns, using Doshisha University’s original textbook and support materials based on our own teaching method, which contains exercises of sentence patterns and grammar, vocabulary and Chinese characters. In order for students to be able to use all the expressions in an appropriate manner, exercises will be of typical situations where each expression is used, without categorizing them into grammar or vocabulary issues. Vocabulary building with an emphasis on collocation. Improving the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing through summarizing, reading and listening comprehension of the materials, role-play using expressions learned in class, and composition exercises.